Friday, November 18, 2016

Today in Soap Opera History (November 18)

1988: General Hopsital's Jake was back in Port Charles.
1994: All My Children's Laurel tried to expose Janet.
2002: Young and the Restless' Victoria slapped Victor.
2005: Kay talked to the mystery woman on Passions.

"More and more, I tend to read history. I often find it more up to date than the daily newspapers."
― Joe Murray

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1957: On The Edge of Night, the doctors realized that Mary Harper's (Anne Sargent) coma was a result of a drug overdose, rather than head injuries.

1998: Actress Norma Connolly died at age 71. She was best known for her long-running role as Ruby Anderson in General Hospital. She also played Lena Karr Gilroy in The Young Marrieds. During her career, Connolly appeared in scores of television specials, movies and miniseries. She was a board member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. She was also active in the battle against AIDS, serving on the board of Hollywood Helps. She was responsible for recruiting soap opera performers for such fund-raisers as the "Soap Star Spectacular" staged in 1992 at the Santa Monica Airport.

2002: On The Young and the Restless, after Victoria (Heather Tom) discovered that her ever-controlling father, Victor (Eric Braeden), had been behind her boyfriend, Diego Guttierez (Greg Vaughan), leaving town, she angrily confronted and SLAPPED him!

Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in the item above.

2005: On Passions, the mystery woman with red nails (played Sharon Wyatt) told Kay Bennett (Heidi Mueller) she gave up on her true love once, and it almost killed everyone she ever loved.

2011: At the BBC's annual "Children in Need" telethon, the cast of EastEnders wowed the crowd with its memorable Queen tribute video by performing a medley of four of the band's hit songs in full '80s rock attire. During the finale, nearly the entire cast and crew descended upon Albert Square to sing the chorus of "Radio Ga Ga," a song, which in some way might apply to traditional soap opera, eh? Enjoy!